Door



3 Sheets-Sheet 1 22/ R.' KATZ DOOR 'Z0 BY 52 ATTORNEY July4`7, 1953 Filed Jan. 1o, 1949 R. KAfz y DooR July 7, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 1o, 1949 INVENTOR. 4'4 ROBERT KATZ.

ATTORNEY.

July 7,1953 R. KATZ l2,644,554

Filed'Jan. 10, 1949 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 JNVENTOA ROBE/3 T KATZ.

Patented July 7, 1953 Doon Robert Katz, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application January 10, 1949, serial No. 70,050

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a door construction and more particularly to a glass door construction in which the frame is made of metal.

The principal object of this invention is the provision of an improved tubular metal frame for glass doors, which may be cut to any desired size in accordance with individual requirements. Heretofore, door frames of this general character have been made in accordance with given sizes, and great difliculty has been experienced in accommodating these door frames to door jambs of other than stock sizes. In the present invention, the door frame comprises a plurality of stile and rail members which are fastened to each other, and these members may be cut to any suitable length. They may thereafter be assembled to provide door frames of required dimensions. n

Another object of this invention is the provision of a tubular metal frame for glass doors of the character described, whose leading edge is provided with a bevel to provide for proper clearance between said leading edge and the door jamb.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a door of the general character described, having a lock mounted in its leading,

edge, whose face lies flush with the bevel on said leading edge, thereby presenting Ya continuous beveled leading edge with all the advantages inherent therein.

Doors made of a glass plate are much in demand. It is desirable to have as much glass exposed as possible, and to have as littlefframe work or support for the glass as' is consistent with strength and security. Hollow aluminum tubing has been used to support these large glass plates or panels, b-ut it has been necessary, inv

the past, to weld together the stiles and rails which support the glass panel. The surface of the aluminum tubing is finishing as by anodizing, and when the tubing is cut to size and fabricated as the frame around a glass panelit has been necessary to weld the Stiles and rails tgether. This welding causes discoloration at the joint, and it has been found that even when the welding is done on the aluminum tubing before the nishing is done, there still results considerable discoloration at the joint. Hence, an ob,- ject of the invention is to provide means for uniting the stiles and rails of a door without the necessity of welding or soldering.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of a door of the general character de scribed, which may be made of aluminum tubing and which is provided with steel reinforcing members to enable said aluminum Stiles and rails to be bolted together tightly, without yield ing or sagging, and thus eliminate the necessity of welding.

A preferred embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a face View of one type of door incorporating the features of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is another face View of another type of, door which incorporates the constructional fea# tures of this invention, the door frame being partly broken away to expose one of the fastening member thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view lof, the- Fig. 4 is a detailed fragmentary view of onev of the upper corners of said door frame looking downwardly therefrom, the frame being partly broken away, to reveal, in section, the details of the connecting means by which the top -hori' zontal frame member or rail and one of the ver-v Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view of one of the.:

stile members and especially of the stile which constitutes the leading or free swinging edge of the door. i

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary face view of said.:

member.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary horizontal section v through the stile member which constitutes the. leading edge of the door, and through the pane,v

of glass which is supported thereby, and through the door jamb which it meets. i

Fig. l0 is an enlargedl fragmentary face View of said stile member showing a lock carried thereby.

Fig. 11 is a horizontal section on line II-l of Fig. 10.

Fig. l2 is an end View of one of the fastening clips by which the vertical and horizontal frame members are fastened together. y

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary side view showing s aid clip.

Fig. 14 is an elevational view showing a pair of doors and illustrating a modification of the invention. L

Figs. l5 and 16 are face views of glass panels used in doors showing detail of corner construction.

Fig. 17 is a fragmentary sectional view through the top rail and connected stile showing method of securing the glass panel in the modication shown in Fig. 14.

Fig. 18 is a sectional view taken online I8-I8 of Fig. 1.7'.

Fig. 19 is a View similar to Fig. 17, but showing a further modification.

It has above been stated that this invention relates primarily to glass doors having metal frames. InFig. l, one of such doors is shown, said door having two vertical frame members or stiles 20 and 2i respectively, connectedto two horizontal frame members or rails 222 arid 23, respectively. This door is mounted on a door jamb by conventional means such as hinges shown in the drawing. A second type of door incorporating the features of this invention is i hinged to the door jamb by means of Ahinges 25.

The cross-sectional view inFig. 7 of the leading door frame member, to wit, stile 2i, shows that the leading edge 40 thereof is beveled. The corresponding edge '4l of door jamb 42 is correspondingly beveled, thereby providing for adequate clearance between the door and the door jamb and also providing a snug t between the two.

Further reference to Fig. '7 willV disclose the 'fact that this stile 2| comprises a tubular member, substantially.rectangular in cross section (with the exception of the beveled edge above noted),

and having an L-shaped glass-holding bead 44 formed thereon, on the side opposite t-he bevel. The cross-sectional view in Fig. 4.0i stile 2li shows that this stile resembles stile 2i in every respect except that it has no beveled face. Stile 2G also has an. L.shaped bead d which can be seen'in Fig. 5.

Figs.' 9 and 11 best show how the panel of glass 46 is held in place in the door frame. It has already been `mentioned that bead 13A.' is used. to

hold the glass panel in place, and it will be noted 5..;

that a channel-shaped'member el, fastened to the frame member by means of screws d8, cooperates with the L-shaped member to confine the glass panel. The L-shaped projection on the frame member abuts one side of the glass panel and the channel member abuts the opposite side. If gaskets are found to be desirable in this construction, they may be inserted in any suitable conventional manner. Y

While it has been indicated t-'hus `far that' the L-shaped bead is formed on the stiles, it` should be 'understood' that the. rails resemble the stiles in substantially every respect except that they need not be providedwith a beveled face, although that, too, may be had if desired. Hence, it will be understood that the rails comprise tubular members, substantially rectangular in cross-section, and having L-shaped beads formed num from ybending or sagging under the stress and strain of the tie rods. The special means herein provided for this purpose comprise two members, a clip 5l and a strong metal washer 52, such as a washer made of steel. Clip 5i is a U-s-haped memberwhich is best seen in Fig. 4. In production this clip may simply comprise a section cut from a long U-shaped channel. lts. yoke is provided with a centrally-extending hole 53 (Fig. 12), and a plurality of holes. 54 formed in its corners. Itis through these Iholes tthat rivets. 55.v .may be introduced to fasten said clips to the stiles of the door as is best shown in Figs. d and k5. The steel. washer 52 may be mounted on .theJi-n side of each stile and it will be understood that said washer is provided with holes registering with the holes in the clip. The tie rod 5G isk then inserted into each rail member and its. two ends are brought through the holes in the. clips. and washers in the manner sho-wn in Figs. a and 5- The ends of the tie rods are screw-threaded and they accommodate nuts which bear. against the steel` washers. llt is clear that when these nuts are tightened uponY the tie rods, they will clamp the stiles to the rails. rThe legs of the clip tend to prevent buckling of the walls of therails;v and the yoke fastened to the Stiles, together with, the steel washer, prevent undue strain in the wallsof the stiles. l

It. has been stated that rivets areused to fasten.

the clip to the stiles. Gther fastening means such, as bolts may be used to equal advantage,fbut rivets are preferred. Thewashers need notbe fastened to the inside wall of the stiles except by the tie rod itself.V These washers are; provided with holes registering with the holes" in the clips, however, to provide' clearance for the these openings. may be plugged .up by means. of

plugs or plates 6G which are shaped to correspond with the shape of the opening in. said stiles.. In Fig. 5 a plug of this type is. shown in the open end of one of said vertical frame-members. l'Fhis plug may be heldin place in the. frame members by any conventional means or methods such, for

instance, as a press t betweenits side edges and the walls of the frame member. It isv shownY in Fig. 5 to be resting on the washer 5-2, and this is an added means of positioning the plug in the frame member.

When, however, a door such as is shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing is assembled, difficulty would be encountered in gaining access to the middle tieV rod, were it not for the provision of a hole lin the stile directly opposite said middle tie rod.A

This hole is made sufficiently large to insert the f washer, the nut, and a wrench. .When the nut is screwed tight upon thev tie rod, the opening in the stile is plugged closed in the same manner as its two end openings are plugged.- A plate corresponding in shape to the shape of the hole in said frame member is inserted therein and a press fit will usually be found sufficient to hold said plate in place in said hole.

Among the refinements of which the present invention is susceptible is the use of pads 65 formed at the inner corners of the tubular frame members into which clips l are inserted. These pads serve as guides for the clips; they keep them aligned with said tubular members; and they provide only a limited bearing area between said clips and said tubular members, thereby eliminating much of the friction that would otherwise be encountered between said clips and said tubular members.

It has above been stated that at least one of said tubular frame members, to wit, that stile which provides the leading edge of the door, has a beveled wall. When a lock is mounted in said stile, the face of the lock which lies along the leading edge of the door should itself be provided with a bevel to coincide with the bevel of the door frame itself. This bevel is provided in the lock shown in Figs. lO'and 11. The lock proper is conventional in every respect but its face plate H lies at an angle relative thereto which conforms in every respect to the angle of the door frame bevel relative to the door frame.

`The manner in which the lock may be held in place in the door frame is best shown in Fig. 1l. It will be noted in said figure that tapped socket members 'I3 are fastened to the inside wall of the tubular frame member directly opposite the opening in the leading edge of the door frame through which the lock is inserted. Screws 'I4 are then inserted through the face plate of the lock in conventional manner, and these screws are made to engage the tapped sockets 73, all as shown in said ligure.

The invention thus far has been described with relation to those doors which have complete frames, that is, stiles and rails around all four sides of the glass panels. The same principles, however, may be utilized for glass doors bounded on three sides or even on two sides of the glass panel.

In Fig. 14, for instance, there is shown a pair of swinging doors, wherein the meeting edges of the doors have no Stiles. In such case, the glass panels G are shaped somewhat as shown in Fig. 15, the upper and lower corners of the meeting edge of the panel being acutely notched as at 80 to receive correspondingly shaped clips 8| which are formed as plugs to nt snugly into the ends of upper and lower rails 22a. Clips Sl are provided with a threaded bore 82 to accommodate threaded end 83 of tie rod 52a. Resilient padding or packing material 84 is interposed between the hooked portion 85 of clip 8l and the notched corner 8D of the glass panel, as well as around the edge of glass G in the grooves of the'rails and stile. It will thus be seen that means are provided for securely holding a glass panel in a three-sided frame to produce a strong and efcient door.

In Fig.- 19, there is shown the application of the same general principle to a glass door panel having no stiles but being supported by only a top and vbottom rail. In such case, the glass panel is notched in all four corners as shown in Fig. 16, the notches 80a and 89h being provided for engagement by the clips Bl and 86, respectively. The clip 86 has a rail plug 81 which snugly ts into the rail, the plug having a hole 88 through which the tie rod Stb extends, the nut Cil 6 56h being threadedly engaged with the end of the tie rod and fitting within a counterbore t9 in the plug 8T. A disc 9i! may be secured to the plug 81 to serve as a closure for counterbore 89, as shown in Fig. 19.

It will be appreciated that the foregoing describes only preferred embodiments of this invention and that said embodiments may be modined in numerous ways within the scope of the present invention. Illustrative of one such modification is the use of an opaque door panel in place of the glass pane hereinabove described and shown in the drawing.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a door frame construction of the character described, a pair of spaced tubular stiles fastened to a pair of spaced tubular rails, the fastening members comprising screw-threaded tie rods which extend through the rails and project into and terminate within the stiles, nuts being provided on the ends of said threaded tie rods to bolt said stiles to said rails, reinforcements being provided to prevent buckling of said rails, said reinforcements vcomprising U-shaped clips which are fastened at their yokes to the stiles, their leg portions extending into the tubular rails and bearing against the inner walls thereof, large arcuate washers being provided between thevnuts and the inner wall of said Stiles, with the concave side of each washer confronting the inner wall of the respective stile whereby the force exerted by said nuts is communicated to the sides of said inner wall remote from said tie rods.

2. A frame construction in accordance with claim l, in which one of said stiles is hingedly connected to one post of a door jamb, the other of said stiles being provided with a bevel along its leading 'edge to cooperate with a bevel formed on the opposite post of the door jamb. n.

3. In a door frameconstruction having at least one tubular stile and a plurality of tubular rails, means for securing each rail to said stile in :abutting engagement, the wall of said stile which abuts against the end of said rail having a hole just large enough for ythe passage of :a tie rod therethrough, said securing means comprising a screw-threaded tie rod which extends from one end of the rail through said hole and terminates within said stile, means to secure said tie rod within the rail axially thereof, ka nut on the extending end of said tie rod within said stile to VVbolt together said stile and a rail, a lU--shaped clip fastened to the outer surface of a wall of said stile and extending into said rail and bearing against the inner walls of said rail, a large arcuate washer mounted on said tie rod between the nut and the inner wall of said stile, with its concave side confronting said latter inner wall whereby the force exerted by the nut is communicated to the sides of said inner wall remote from said hole in said stile.

ROBERT KATZ.

References Cited n the file of .this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 985,912 Lindros Mar. 7, 1911 1,444,229 Zahner Feb. 6, 1923 1,507,769 Disbro Sept. 9, 1924 1,799,423 Hubbert Apr. 7, 1931 2,451,076 Edwards, Jr Oct. 12, 1948 

